


Unknown Mother Goose

by obeymint



Category: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!
Genre: Angst, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, No Happy Ending Fest, Not beta read we die like Lilith, Reincarnation, Singing, Song Lyrics, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:28:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27212722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obeymint/pseuds/obeymint
Summary: inspired by my friend Iana's recent Lucifer/MC reincarnation angst. of course i had to make it even worse xDshe hasnt posted hers to ao3 yet so i cant credit the inspo, but just know this is inspired by her!also loosely based on Will Stetson's Englsih cover of Unknown Mother Goose. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMG7bMPX8jI&ab_channel=WillStetsondoes not use all the song lyricsalso this is my first time writing angst so im sorry if it sucks ewjfkdskv also i apparently cant write decent word counts for shit smh
Relationships: Belphegor (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Character(s), Belphegor (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Male Character(s), Belphegor/Main Character (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Unknown Mother Goose

He's been trapped for what feels like an eternity. Stuck in this damned attic with no way out. Of course Lucifer had to go and lock him up for his 'safety.' What a pathetic dog of an older brother, kneeling to lick Diavolo's boot at every opportunity. He'd fallen so low, oh so low since their days as angels. From the days before Belphegor hated humans, from before Lilith was shot down in battle, from before the days when...

No. No, Belphegor. Don't think about them. Lilith's death he could handle, he'd already processed it enough. No, there was another reason why his hatred for the human race festered so. One not even Beelzebub, his famed twin he shared a bond of telepathic nature with. See, Lilith wasn't the only important angel to Belphegor that perished in that battle. Belphegor had a partner, and that partner joined in the rebellion against his Father, in the Great Celestial War. That angel was named Menthol. 

Menthol, sweet Menthol... had Lilith not met that human man, not tried to cure his illness.. not tried so desperately go against the laws of the angels...

Menthol wouldn't have lost their precious life in a meaningless war where only seven of hundreds survived. Now all that remained of them was preciously bittersweet memories of their smile, their laugh, their genuine kindness. And most painfully of all, their song. A song the two of them shared, one which he couldn't bring himself to sing even after all these centuries passed. He'd try, but he'd choke on tears every time. Never could he move on from the pain of having lost them. His wings were one thing, their wings were another.

Tears fall to the sheets below him, choked breaths and phlegm follow as he sobs in their memory. Clutching the satin spread below him, his head falls as he lowers to his knees and elbows, screams of sorrow and agony wailing across the attic walls and beyond the door. Lucifer is sure to hear him, to ask him the matter. He'll just lie and say he's pissed humans still exist. Something to get the monkey off his back. No one could know, this pain was his alone. Slowly, slowly he sobs himself into slumber. 

Of course he dreams of Menthol, he dreams of them every night. As if they're calling to him from this time, dressed in modern clothes and smiling like they always did. It hurt him to wake up and not feel their embrace every time he opened his eyes. He wants to reach out, to hug them, to kiss them, tell them how much he misses them and how he wish they could be here with him always. But something is different. No, this time they're not just idly giggling or laying down. No, this time they're sitting cross-legged, in the distance. Faintly, he hears a familiar tune coming from their direction.

_ If I had thought, sought, to go express all my love,  _

_ How my friend would you look back at me then? _

Those lyrics.. it can't be, can it? Is his dreaming mind playing tricks on him? He reaches out, chasing the sound like a dog chasing a bone. Like it's the last drop of water and he's a parched man in the desert. Closer, closer still. The tune grows louder, closer still. 

_ These pointless words hurt and waste the time that we share,  _

_ Music sings so cleanly gracing the air... _

He can almost touch them, their soft singing voice so clear in his ears. He reaches toward their blurred form, desperate and wanting. Tugged along like the Fool in a deck of tarot. This familiar and stable song to a Hierophant resistant to the new ways. To his old life, to them. To Menthol.

He wakes up. He's back in the attic like always. He's about to cry again when that familiar voice rings out just behind the door.

_ " Until you’re pained, stained, from head to toe in your love, _

_ All the shades will fade away in the haze." _

It.. wasn't a figment of his imagination? No one else knew that song.. that was their song. They wrote it together. For them and no one else. He slowly walks to the door, curious. There, he finds an exact copy of Menthol, sitting in a loose blue hoodie adorned with small demon-like horns, dark jeans and shin-length boots. Their brown and minty green-tipped hair falling so elegantly to their shoulder. Their eyes are closed in a peaceful focus, singing out to whatever is behind the door. He wants to call their name, to tell them he's here. They can be together again, finally after so long. Happy, where Lucifer can't bother them. But the call of their song is too powerful. He gives in and sings along, voices melding together in perfect harmony just like they did so many centuries ago.

_ "The music shouts out alone and topples me down _

_ Fate itself just turns its head as it laughs at me now _

__

_ A hollow gaze, dazed, their life just ticking away _

_ The masses sing their praise and closely follow the same _

_ It’s such a waste, shame, the music pours in my brain  _

_ An old tune that carries no weight _

_ If you had thought, sought, to go express all your love _

_ Then, my friend, is that a choice you’ll defend?" _

A masterful duet only old lovers could perform. Eventually Menthol takes notice, their singing stopping and eyes opening in surprise, the familiar sparkling emerald orbs with the fool's gold stars peering through the door, right into his amethyst and rose quartz-tinted eyes. He just stares in awe, he never thought he'd get to see them again. Well, not in the flesh at least. He just wants to reach out and stroke their hair and pepper them in passionate kisses while they make up for the lost centuries until the morning. _Oh, Menthol, if only you knew-_

"Hi, I'm Menthol. Who are you?"

His heart shatters into a million pieces. They didn't remember him. This isn't his Menthol. Burning hate seethes back into him, betrayed that an imposter could know his song. He decides to test them, to get him out of this attic. He lies to them. 

"I'm a human, like you. Lucifer trapped me up in here. Can you help me get out?"

"Oh, okay, sure."

So Menthol falls into his plan. Eventually they learn more about each other, that Menthol isn't a normal human, but what's different is unknown. Menthol, in turn, learns Belphegor's true identity. They continue to help him regardless. Every night they share time to sit, separated by the attic door, singing his song. He didn't care how they knew it, he liked the familiar comfort. Even demons like comfort once in awhile.

_ Don’t close your eyes and lie, I’ll guide your hand to the light _

_ I’ll sing and shout ‘til this life burns out I-- _

__

_ I think and cherish that forgotten story, unknown are its glories _

_ Moving close I grasp it just barely unbreaking through tears and the aching _

_ If I could plead with all these empty emotions that just don’t mean a thing _

_ With this old heart that seems on the verge of just breaking from all the aching _

_ I couldn’t talk and just swallowed all of the words down, yes here once again-- _

Over time his plan only grows closer to completion. He keeps singing with them, feeling the familiar pangs of love and stability he always got with his Menthol. Maybe, he feels, this could be them.. 

But angels can't be reincarnated, can they? To lose their wings and become a newfound soul travelling the earth? He hopes for the possibility, for he couldn't bear another day without them.

_ Just let me shout it! _

He longs for their touch, their embrace. He longs for the days he can hold them again, his precious Menthol. He's grown to treasure the moments they spend in the attic, singing as they grow closer not only emotionally but physically. The nights spent with fingers intertwined through the grating to the attic door, faces as close as possible, letting loose the harmonious notes of those lyrics. A tune only the two of them knew. Their Unknown Mother Goose.

_ If my life is thrown away forgotten by the side _

_ Then could I here at the end sing of this love inside? _

But all good things must come to an end. It's here he's standing, attic door wide open as he pants. Menthol is squirming under his grip. The pathetic half-demon imitation, writhing desperately to get free, reptilian claws and tail flailing around in a feeble attempt to get to air. His claws dig into the soft skin of their neck, claws hitting deep arteries leaving blood pooling on the floor, flowing down his hand like a malicious river. Menthol's eyes go dark as they bleed out, their body falling limp in his hand before he ungracefully releases them. At once their lifeless body hits the floor with a loud thud, splashing small drops of their own blood around before they lie still in a pool of it. He's angry, but proud of himself. That is until he snaps out of whatever took over him, remembering the last things said between them before their inevitable death.

"Finally, I can't thank you enough for getting me out of here, _impostor."_

"Wait, I think you misunderstood-"

"I don't have time for _fakers like you!_ You could never be the real Menthol.."

"Then explain how I knew-"

He couldn't remember what the rest of those words they spoke were. But he knew what they were trying to communicate. Tears flow out of his guilt-ridden eyes. He'd just killed his only lover in cold blood after they gave their first life to his freedom so long ago. With a heavy heart and an even heavier mind, he sorrowfully sings out the last part of their song, a final tribute to the most precious thing he'd lost. The last words he can possibly muster to their cold and bluing body before doing what needs to be done to atone for his sin.

_ " That story lost to all will be reborn now anew _

_ It seems that once again I’ll be humming the same tune. _

I'm sorry, Menthol.."


End file.
